How to optimize your store on mobile

77% of all Americans own a smartphone, and with 61% of all online sales coming from mobile shoppers during the holiday shopping season, it's easy to see why optimizing your store for mobile is a must this year.

Don’t worry though. In this post we'll run through the top tips to keep your mobile shoppers happy, and your revenue going up!

Create a mobile-first design

You can adapt most desktop designs for mobile, but visitors will be more inclined to go deeper into your site when it’s designed for mobile, ensuring a bright, responsive storefront.

Designing for mobile allows your customers to navigate the store on their smartphones with ease. Using a simple, column-style layout also ensures users won't have to go searching for a certain link they're looking for.

Remember to use HTML

When adding images, be sure to always use alt-text in the HTML "img" tag for best results. An "img" tag allows you to not only insert an image, but also lets you link your images to other pages. Just adding a photo with words can often result in uneven or clunky loading. 

Keep call to actions & data capture simple

If you’ve ever tried to complete a form on your mobile device, you know how difficult it can be! Keeping forms to a minimum will ensure a happier customer experience.

And the same goes for any CTAs you have running. Make sure your call-to-action requests are large and easy to select with a single tap of the finger, without interfering with anything else.

We're trying to keep the user experience as simple as possible so shopping is pleasant and conversions are more likely.

Use responsive design

A responsive design is key! It’s a simple, seamless way to coordinate branding across desktop and mobile displays.

But mobile isn’t simply desktop’s kid brother; it’s a dynamic platform in its own right, and layouts should be further refined with your mobile users in mind.

While an occasional incomplete transaction can happen to even the best eCommerce site, a flawless checkout experience is vital to successful mobile purchases.

Not all customers who use smartphones to make purchases are tech-savvy! To reduce the number of customers who get lost along the way, make the checkout process as simple, straightforward, and transparent as possible.

Ensure a quick checkout

A super-fast checkout process encourages impulse buys and last-minute add-ons. In the absence of having a cashier ask each customer if they “want fries with that,” a one-click or one page checkout can be the next best thing.

Offering a variety of checkout methods, such as credit card, Paypal, and Stripe provides convenience for shoppers and discourages abandoned carts.

Prepare for a global marketplace

You're a local entrepreneur, but you’re also a big part of the global marketplace, and growth depends on your ability to complete transactions in different currencies. When you provide customers with an opportunity to make purchases in the currency of their choosing, it can be a deal-changer.

Consider this: you’re a New York resident vacationing in England with a choice between two souvenir sites; one allows you to make purchases in US dollars, the other does not. Which one will you likely choose?

Optimize images

Quick-loading images are essential to a positive mobile user experience, especially when images tie into a current promotion. If you are using text over your images, make sure there's a clear contrast so both the image and the text are easy to digest.

Images are an essential part of the buying experience - customers want to see exactly what they're getting so there's no surprises!

Dead space - or worse, an error message - can cause shoppers to feel uncertain, questioning their decision to complete the in-progress transaction.

Keep it clean

If you have an abundance of large graphics or too many ‘Click Here for More Info’ buttons on your site, you can overwhelm mobile shoppers. Images often fail to load properly, and customers quickly become frustrated, clicking away from your storefront.

Remember, you've only got 5 seconds to hook your visitor, don't lose them because of a messy screen.

Keep posts shorter to decrease bounce rates, and keep all relevant information at the top of the page where mobile shoppers can see it front and centre.

White space on the screen is less tiring for your reader, so break up more substantial posts into smaller sections and use bold headings for best results.

Time to start optimizing!

Now that you know how to optimize your site for mobile, it's easier than ever to get started.

Running a successful eCommerce store doesn't have to be overwhelming! Optimizing your store for mobile is an easy way to engage visitors and significantly increase sales, while giving customers the choice and accessibility of mobile shopping.